Biwa playing spirits Fuku to dance around the spring

William had been listening for the sound of the next spirit's arrival, but he never could have guessed what a distinct noise it would be, or from how many directions. Spirit biwa players had been summoned on the high ridges of the mountains. While they appeared at a distance to be harmless old men playing stringed instruments, their real purpose was much more nefarious-- they had a tendency to raise the restless, vengeful spirits of the dead. With this many playing, the hot springs would become host to countless enthralled souls! Worst of all, he couldn't reach them with his odachi blade. He'd have to rely on his bow and arrow, which was going to be significantly slower than he'd like.

"That music...!" Fuwa gasped, looking up to the tops of the hills.

"Remain calm. I'll take care of them," William responded with a grunt, although he didn't feel as confident as he sounded. This was going to take focus and precision that would be hard to maintain while fending off the blades of so many fallen warriors...

... Or so he thought. The good news was that the dead seemed to remain dead. No red revenants were joining them, despite the ominous strumming of what seemed to be twenty or more biwa players.

The bad news was that something else was happening. He raised his eyebrows as Fuku stood up from where she'd been kneeling for the incantation. Her movements were jerky and shaking, as though she were fighting some invisible ****. "Miss Fuku! Focus on the incantation!"

"I... can't... something is happening to me..." she complained, raising her hands, still clasped as though in prayer, over her head. The shirt rose up a bit higher, revealing the undersides of her breasts, clad in a white cotton bra.

William tried not to look at that, instead drawing his sword once again to find what was controlling her. Some invisible spirit? He readied his own onmyo magic talismans and placed a warding field around Fuku's body, trying to drive off any traces of miasma. It had no effect-- there were no demons close by to be repelled. "Those biwa players... they're not trying to summon anything. Are they somehow doing this?" he questioned, placing his blade back in its sling and drawing his bow once again.

As he turned to line up his shot, he was interrupted by the sound of a loud clap, ringing out behind him. He turned his head to look sideways over his shoulder, then clenched his teeth in surprise.

Fuku was clearly dancing. The hands that were supposed to be clenched together for the incantation were instead clapping along to the sounds of the instruments, as she danced back and forth in front of the open hot spring. It wasn't the sort of graceful dance you'd expect from one of her bearing, either-- instead, she had her legs bowed at odd angles, hopping back and forth from one foot to the other. The childish motion had noteworthy visual effects, causing her huge bosom to bounce up and down with each hop, and further, flipping up her skirt every time.

The onmyo mage was red-faced, her narrow eyes squinted in frustration as her body disobeyed her. Right now, it looked very much as though the spirits were controlling her for no purpose other than their own entertainment.

"Can you still finish the incantation?" William questioned, his eyes rooted on her strange movements.

"The ritual is still in play," she answered, clenching her teeth as she tried to wrest some manner of control back from the biwa players. It didn't seem to be any use. "This must be the intended form of the ritual. Still, as my ally, you must subjugate the spirits! Allow me to continue to distract them while you focus on the task!"

When he failed to turn back around and start firing, instead watching her bounce from foot to foot and clap her hands, her expression became somewhat pleading. "Master William..."

"Yes! Right!" he answered, readying his bow and aiming for heads.

The biwa players moaned irritably in unison as William struck the first of them down, knocking a spirit off of its perch with a carefully-placed arrow. The samurai got the impression their attack was only just starting, but all he could do was pick them off one by one.

Fuwa, on the other hand, felt her body being pulled in a new direction by the phantom call of the instruments. This strange dance wouldn't be the end of it. According to the tablet, this ritual had five steps...

Outfit durability: 28/28 (neck ribbon, sailor suit top over white cotton bra, sailor suit skirt over white cotton panties, socks, loafers)